Biography

Photography: Mark K Jackson

 

“By looking after ourselves we look after the planet, by looking after the planet we look after ourselves”

 

Creativity & Wellbeing for Wholeness

 Ecological Designer | Educator | Shamanic practitioner | Ecostage co-director

A leader in the emerging paradigm of Ecoscenography (ecological design for performance), Mona Kastell is an international award winning Breton Scottish ecological designer for performance, community engagement practitioner, and shamanic practitioner with a strong interest in social and ecological conscious design with professional experience, including stage and costume design in devised, street and physical theatre, dance, film, and participatory art installations.

Mona freelances multidisciplinary between  Set & Costume design, Education, Healing Work and MKeco Creations, her zero waste crafts brand for accessories made from Nature & theatrical scraps.

Taking the lead as designer/maker, Mona engages herself holistically in her practice, placing Nature, wellbeing, interconnectivity and authentic community engagement at the heart of her creative process, using natural materials and found objects. This alternative approach to design provides sustainable tools to visually communicate ecological concepts to audiences to co-create new narratives for the future of our society and the planet. Her work is rooted in:

• Ecological Design Thinking that believes “in a future where the things that we design no longer need to be detrimental to the wellbeing of our planet, in pioneers ecological possibilities that redress social, environmental and economic imbalance, and in encouraging creativity to explore integrated solutions that are beneficial to all-of-life.” (Schumacher College EDT)
• Ecoscenography which “contributive practice integrates transdisciplinary practices with community engagement putting the highlight on creating positive legacies, advancing the designer forward to a more active role of change agent” (Beer 2016)
• Permaculture ‘s three intertwined ethics – Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share – demonstrating that true balance can only be when meeting in the centre creating true regenerative systems.

Mona received a distinction for her Masters in Ecological Design Thinking from Schumacher College, during which she explored ecological design thinking in performance across disciplines. It concluded in The Whole Designer Manifesto, an evolving reminder of the concepts behind her ecosophy.

Since graduating from her Masters, Mona dedicates much of her time to sharing her knowledge. Her involvement and outreach has proved to gain awareness and action in the importance of sustainability in the UK so far and is well recognized professionally. She runs ecological workshops for educational, theatre and corporate organizations such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Edinburgh College of Arts, Envelope Room/National Theatre Scotland, Creative Carbon Scotland, and Scottish Drama Training Network symposium, James Hutton Institute. Her paper on ‘Ecoscenography in action: Bridging stage design with nature connection to shape sustainable communities and wellbeing’ has been published in the Peer reviewed Scene Journal. Her design for ‘Glimpsing Air Pockets’ is featured in Tanja Beer’s book on Ecoscenography and won 1st prize at World Stage Design 2022 in ‘Alternative Design’.

She is one of Ecostage co-director, a grassroots initiative and website that provides a holistic framework, tools and resources for embedding practice-based ecological thinking at all stages of our creative processes and scales of production. The Seven Ecostage Principles are designed to bring together creativity, sustainability, Nature connection, well-being and social activism. People can pledge to the principles and help generate momentum for sector-wide transformation.

Mona is a co-founder of Schumacher Scotland emerging in its very early stages with other alumni. It is a Place based Transformative Learning for Ecological and Social Change collective for Holistic Education, Deep Ecology, and Connection.

This focus on Nature Connection and Wellbeing led Mona to expand and train as a shamanic practitioner as part of her practice. She currently studies a blend of Celtic and Andean indigenous shamanism with her teachers at the Edinburgh Shamanic Centre.

Mona is interested in hearing about:
–Collaboration with peers who are interested in exploring ecological practices and community engagement within interdisciplinary theatre making.
–Opportunities to lead talks and workshops on ecological design thinking
–Funding bodies interested and able to help Ecostage move forward

Short bio (to use in marketing)
A leader in the emerging paradigm of Ecoscenography, Mona is an international award-winning ecological designer for performance, community engagement practitioner and a shamanic practitioner. She combines Permaculture & Ecological Design Thinking within her creative practice embedded in expanded scenography with emphasis on Nature Connection, wellbeing, interconnectivity and authentic community engagement to engage and empower whole people to contribute to a healthy society and planet. Mona is one of Ecostage co-director, a grassroots initiative and website that provides a holistic framework, tools and resources for embedding practice-based ecological thinking at all stages of our creative processes and scales of production.

Mona is a member of: